Hard water in Orland, CA
Reported by SFPUC-Pleasanton Wells · October 2022
- CA typical
- 121 mg/L
- EPA health violations since 2016
- 0
- Softener for 3 people
- 48k grain
- Data
- Utility report
Tap water in Orland has about 356 mg/L of hardness, which is 20.8 grains per gallon. On the USGS scale that counts as very hard. The number comes from SFPUC-Pleasanton Wells, dated October 2022. Reports for this system disagree, with values from 356 to 558 mg/L.
Orland sits 235 mg/L above the typical California figure of 121. None of the 10 nearest cities we track has harder water. The range nearby runs from 24 mg/L in Oroville to 247 in Yuba City.
What 356 mg/L means at home
Scale forms fast here. Kettles and coffee makers need regular descaling, and showerheads clog unless you clean them.
Tank water heaters collect mineral sediment that insulates the water from the burner, so flushing the tank matters more than usual.
Dishes and glass shower doors spot easily. Soap scum and a dull film on hair or laundry are common complaints.
Hardness is not a health problem, and EPA sets no limit for it. It is a matter of scale and soap.
What to do about it
At 356 mg/L most of the trouble is scale, and only a few things deal with it.
Ion-exchange water softener
The standard whole-house fix. It swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium or potassium and needs salt plus a drain. Size it with the calculator below.
Salt-free conditioner
No salt and no drain line. It changes how minerals form scale instead of removing them, so water still tests hard.
Reverse osmosis or carbon filter
Under-sink reverse osmosis removes minerals from drinking water only. Plain carbon filters improve taste but do not soften.
3 people × 75 gallons a day × 20.8 gpg = 4,684 grains a day. A 48,000-grain unit regenerates about every 10 days.
EPA record for Orland's water system
No health-based violations since 2016
Serves about 8,298 people from groundwater.
- Health-based
- 0
- Monitoring or reporting
- 2
- Open now
- 1
EPA lists City of Orland as the system serving Orland. The hardness figure above comes from a different system's report, which TapWaterData uses for Orland.
Health-based means a contaminant above its legal limit or a missed treatment step. Monitoring and reporting violations are late or missing tests and notices. Source: EPA ECHO, 2026Q3 export, violations with periods starting 2016 or later. Full EPA record.
Questions
Is Orland water hard?
Yes. It measures about 356 mg/L (20.8 grains per gallon), which the USGS classes as very hard.
What is the water hardness in Orland in grains per gallon?
About 20.8 gpg. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 mg/L, so 356 mg/L divided by 17.1 gives 20.8.
What size water softener do I need in Orland?
For 3 people using 75 gallons each per day, 20.8 gpg works out to about 4,684 grains a day. A 48,000-grain softener covers that with a regeneration about every 10 days.
Has the Orland water system had EPA violations?
EPA records show no health-based violations for City of Orland since 2016. There were also 2 monitoring or reporting violations, which are about late or missing tests and notices.
Nearby cities
- Chico154 mg/LHard
- Durham154 mg/LHard
- Oroville24 mg/LSoft
- Colusa33 mg/LSoft
- Cottonwood37 mg/LSoft
- Anderson98 mg/LModerately hard
- Yuba City247 mg/LVery hard
- Marysville98 mg/LModerately hard
- Redding32 mg/LSoft
- Clearlake96 mg/LModerately hard
Hardness data: TapWaterData US Water Hardness (utility report, October 12, 2022), CC BY 4.0. Population: US Census Bureau. Violations: EPA ECHO. How we use them.